Fandom History
A Fanworks Ecumenopolis: Tolkien Fanfiction Archives and the Implications of Consolidation
Published on 14 October 2022 | Conference Paper
Presented at the Fan Studies Network North America conference in 2022, this presentation uses the concept of the "world city" or ecumenopolis as a metaphor for the infrastructure for archiving fanworks in the early 2020s, taking Tolkien fanfiction as a case study. As the extreme archival fragmentation of the Tolkien fandom gave way to growing consolidation onto the Archive of Our Own, questions arise concerning the future of fandom archiving and whether this consolidation poses risks of not just data loss but cultural loss as well.
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(Re)Archive: The Rise and Fall (and Rebound?) of Independent Fanfiction Archives
Published on 9 October 2023 | Conference Paper
Early online fandoms had multitudes of small, often highly specialized fan-run archives. Presented at the Fan Studies Network North America 2023 conference, this presentation looks at archive trends in the Tolkien and Harry Potter fandoms, considering what factors lead to the proliferation, decline, and closure of small archives, including what it means to "rearchive" after an era of high archive closure and consolidation.
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Affirmational and Transformational Values and Practices in the Tolkien Fanfiction Community
Published on 19 January 2020 | Article
Using survey data, primary historical sources, and existing scholarship, this article makes the case that writers of Tolkien-based fanfiction value elements of both affirmational and transformational fandom. The navigation of canon, authority, criticism, and reparation is complex and shapes not only the stories authors tell but the communities they build. Published in the Journal of Tolkien Research.
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Data on Tolkien Fanfiction Culture and Practices (1st Edition)
Published on 15 April 2019 | Research
This document contains data for all items from the Tolkien Fan Fiction Survey, as well as some commentary and analysis.
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In a Stone House by the Sea: The Founding and Governing of the Silmarillion Writers' Guild
Published on 1 March 2015 | Essay
The history of the Silmarillion Writers' Guild and a day in the life of its owner: me.
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Transformative Works as a Means to Develop Critical Perspectives in the Tolkien Fan Community
Published on 10 January 2015 | Conference Paper
This paper discusses how unique features of the Tolkien fanfiction community prepare its authors to function at a high level in critically discussing Tolkien's texts.
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The Borders of the (Fictional) World: Fan Fiction Archives, Ideological Approaches, and Fan Identity
Published on 16 July 2016 | Conference Paper
This paper, cowritten and co-presented at the 2016 New York Tolkien Conference with Janet McCullough John, looks at how the various archives used by Tolkienfic writers created both fragmentation in the fandom and also allowed for distinct cultures to develop within those archives. We explore cultural differences within the various archives and the historical context of the wider Tolkien fandom in which these cultures arose.
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Fictional Scholarship: How the Peter Jackson Films and Fandom Archives Make Tolkien Fan Fiction Writers into Competent Critics
Published on 21 March 2015 | Article
Fanfiction functions critically for its writers, and two features of the Tolkienfic fandom--the predominance of Peter Jackson's movies and its variety of Tolkien-specific archives--have helped to hone these critical faculties. Published in Mythprint.
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Why People Don't Comment: Data and History From the Tolkienfic Community
Published on 24 February 2018 | Essay
Data from the Tolkienfic community shows that a lack of commenting on fanfiction is less about a lack of desire to comment and more about a lack of skill, confidence, and community, all of which empower readers to comment more on what they read.
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